Sexual dysfunction refers collectively to the failure to achieve any one of the four phases of sexual response—appetite, excitement, orgasm, or resolution. Sexual dysfunction is a widespread problem that affects both males and females. It is estimated that millions of people in the United States alone suffer from sexual dysfunction.
Sexual dysfunction in males is typically manifest by the inability to sustain an erection, the inability to ejaculate and/or the inability to experience orgasm. Erectile dysfunction or impotence is the inability to develop and sustain an erection adequate for intercourse and is estimated to affect millions of men in the United States alone. Erectile dysfunction can result from a number of physiological or psychological factors that cause the blood flow to and from the penis to remain imbalanced, thereby preventing retention of sufficient blood to cause rigid dilation and erection. More specifically, erectile dysfunction can be an “arteriogenic” dysfunction in which there is a physical problem with the blood supply to the penis or leakage from veins in the penis such that sufficient pressure cannot be obtained or maintained; a “neurogenic” dysfunction associated with, for example, nerve damage; or a “psychogenic” dysfunction that results from psychological issues such as anxiety or depression.
Sexual dysfunction affects women as well. As applied to women, the term “sexual dysfunction” generally refers to pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse, diminished vaginal lubrication, delayed vaginal engorgement, increased time for arousal, diminished ability to reach orgasm and/or diminished clitoral sensation. Vaginal dryness due to loss of normal vulvar and vaginal secretions most often occurs in menopausal women, women suffering from an autoimmune disease and women undergoing radiation therapy. For women experiencing these problems, sexual intercourse is painful, if possible at all.
Problems with sexual dysfunction are therefore widespread in both males and females. Because of the stigma and embarrassment associated with sexual dysfunction, these problems often go untreated. Even when these problems are treated, the treatments are often undesirable or ineffective. For example, the treatment of males often involves injection into the penis, penile prostheses and urethral implantation of pharmacological agents. Typical treatments for women include the application of antipruritic ointments and creams, or hormone formulas that can cause clitoral enlargement or other masculinization, or that carry a risk of producing atrophy and thinning of the epithelium. Thus, the available treatments can often lead to problems of their own.